Patent Application
20180215301
The present invention relates to a cup holder for an automobile. More specifically, the present invention relates to a cup holder having a platform covering an opening of the cup holder to have a flush surface appearance when not in use, and a retaining arm to retain a cup or a beverage container received inside the cup holder.
For an example of a conventional variable depth cup holder, PTL 1 is referred to.
For another example of a variable depth conventional cup holder, PTL 2 is referred to.
PTL 1: U.S. Pat. No. 8,579,149 B2
PTL 2: US Publication 2013-0105536 A1
In a structure of the cup holder in PTL 1, the retaining elements 15 rotate from the inner circumferential surface of the supporting element 03 toward the center of the supporting element 03 after the supporting element 03 is lifted from the surrounding housing 02. For returning the cup holder in PTL 1 from the using state to unused state, the compression spring between the bottom element 05 and the housing 02 applies an urging force on the bottom element 05 to move the bottom element 05 upward, and the bottom element 05 abuts against the retaining elements 15. The retaining elements 15 rotate back to the inner circumferential surface of the supporting element 03, and the bottom element 05 reaches the upper surface of the surrounding housing 02; thereby, the cup holder is in the unused state. Thus, the retaining force of the springs for the retaining elements 15 must be weaker than the compression spring to allow the bottom element 05 to move upward against said retaining force of the retaining elements 15.
In addition, since the user applies force to the bottom element 05 against the urging force of the compression spring to move the bottom element 05 to the using state, the compression spring cannot be a spring with a strong urging force, which will make the placement of the cup into the cup holder difficult. Thus, the retaining force of the retaining elements 15 must be weak.
In a structure of the cup holder in PTL 2, the cup holder in PTL 2 does not have a structure corresponding to the retaining element to retain the cup in the using state. Thus, the cup holder in PTL 2 cannot securely retain the cup.
Therefore, the present invention is made in view of the aforementioned problems that a conventional technology has, and an object of the present invention is to provide a cup holder covering an opening of the cup holder to have a flush surface appearance when not in use for aesthetic purpose and having a retaining element with a strong retaining force.
In order to obtain the aforementioned object, in the present invention, a cup holder for holding a case for receiving the cup, having an opening and a bottom opposite to the opening; a rotational arm rotatably connected to the case, and including a first arm member rotatably connected to the case, and a second arm member rotatably connected to the first arm member, and having a retaining member protruding toward the case for retaining the cup; a platform slidably arranged in the case to move between a first position in which the platform is positioned at the opening of the case, and a second position in which the platform is positioned at the bottom of the case, the platform having an abutting portion extending downwardly therefrom to abut against the first arm member; and a latch unit to latch the platform and the bottom of the case when the platform is in the second position. When the platform moves from the first position to the second position, the abutting portion abuts against the first arm member to rotate the rotational arm toward the case and the retaining member is disposed inside the case.
In the present invention, the first arm member includes a body portion aligned to the second arm member, and having one end rotatably connected to the second arm member and another end rotatably connected to an outer surface of the case, and a contacting portion extending from the another end of the body portion to the inside of the case to abut against the abutting portion of the platform.
In the present invention, the rotational arm further comprises a first urging portion disposed between the first arm member and the case for applying an urging force to the rotational arm toward outside of the case, and a second urging portion disposed between the first arm member and the second arm member for applying an urging force to the second arm member toward the inside of the case, and the urging force of the second urging portion is greater than that of the first urging portion.
The present invention may include an urging member arranged between the platform and the case to urge the platform toward the opening of the case. When the platform is in the first position, the retaining member of the second arm member is outside of the case and the contacting portion of the first arm member is inside the case. When the platform moves from the first position to the second position, the platform is moved against an urging force of the urging member and the abutting portion of the platform abuts against the contacting portion of the first arm member to rotate the rotational arm toward the case. When the platform is in the second position, the platform is latched to the bottom of the case through the latch unit and the retaining member of the second arm member protrudes inside the case for retaining the cup, and when the platform moves from the second position to the first position, the platform is unlatched from the bottom of the case and the urging member urges the platform to move toward the opening of the case and rotate the rotational arm away from the case.
In the present invention, the case further includes a first slot arranged between the opening of the case and the bottom of the case, to allow the retaining member of the second arm member to enter inside the case, and a second slot arranged between the first slot and the bottom of the case and extending into the bottom, to allow the contacting portion of the first arm member to enter inside the case. When the platform is in the first position, the contacting portion of the first arm member is disposed inside the case through the second slot to abut against the abutting portion of the platform, and when the platform is in the second position, the retaining member of the second arm member protrudes inside the case through the first slot for retaining the cup.
In the present invention, the case further includes a guide portion arranged on the outer surface of the case and having a plurality of teeth extending from the opening of the case to the bottom of the case, and the platform further comprises a gear arranged on an outer surface of the platform to engage the plurality of teeth of the guide portion.
According to such configuration, the abutting portion of platform abuts against the contacting portion of second arm member to control the rotational arm so that when the platform is moving along the case between the first position and the second position, the retaining member does not interfere with the movement of the platform. Therefore, the user is not required to apply force against the spring of the retaining element unlike the cup holder in PTL 1.
Further since the retaining member does not interfere with the movement of the platform, a second urging portion having a strong urging force may be used to increase the urging force (retaining force) for retaining the cup.
Hereinafter, an embodiment for carrying out the invention is explained based on
The cup holder of the present embodiment is structured to be installed in a center console of an automobile. As shown in
The case 1 is described in details in
As shown in
As shown in
The guide portion 11 is formed on an exterior of the circumferential wall 14 and extending in a vertical direction from an open end to the bottom wall 16. The guide portion 11 houses a damper housing 31 of the platform 3, as shown in
More specifically, in the present embodiment, two guide portions 11 are provided on the circumferential wall 14 opposite to each other in a radial direction of the cup holder, as shown in
Each of the guide portions 11 is formed from a pair of sidewalls 113 extending from the exterior of the circumferential wall 14, and a connecting wall 115 connecting the pair of sidewalls 113. The circumferential wall 14, the pair of sidewalls 113 of the guide portion 11, and the connecting wall 115 of the guide portion 11 define a space 11s for housing the damper housing 31 of the platform 3, as shown in
On each circumferential wall 14 facing the connecting wall 115 of the guide portion 11 and between the pair of sidewalls 113 of the guide portion 11, an arm slot 117s is formed. The arm slot 117s extends vertically along the circumferential wall 14 to allow an arm plate portion 311 of the damper housing 31 to slide therethrough, as shown in
The connecting wall 115 of the guide portion 11 includes an opening 119s extending vertically between an upper edge of the connecting wall 115 and a lower portion of the connecting wall 115, and communicating with the space 11s so that when the gear damper 3g is housed inside the space 1s of the guide portion 11, a gear portion of the gear damper 3g protrudes into the opening 119s of the connecting wall 115, as shown in
At a lower side of the circumferential wall 14, the hinge portion 13 is provided to rotatably connect the rotational arm 9 to the case 1, as shown in
More specifically, in the present embodiment, the case 1 includes two hinge portions 13 with about 90° therebetween in a circumferential direction of the cup holder, as shown in
At an upper side of circumferential wall 14 between the hinge portion 13 and the open end of the case 1, an upper slot 17s is formed to allow a retaining member 931 of the rotational arm 9 described later to enter the space 1s of the case 1. In the present embodiment, since the number of upper slots 17s corresponds to the number of rotational arms 9, the cup holder includes two upper slots 17s, as shown in
Below the hinge portion 13, a lower slot 15s is formed extending partially into the bottom wall 16 as shown in
At the upper side of the circumferential wall 14, a first cap connector 12 and a second cap connector 18 are provided to attach the cap 5 onto the case 1, as shown in
The first cap connector 12 includes a through-hole 12s facing the cap 5 so that the through-hole 12s of the first cap connector 12 and a through-hole 52s of the cap 5 are aligned to each other and a connecting piece, e.g. screw, is inserted therethrough to fix the cap 5 to the case 1.
The second cap connector 18 is a protrusion having an inclined surface gradually inclining outwardly along a downward direction so that a second case connector 58 of the cap 5 slides along the inclined surface of the second cap connector 18 and snap fits onto the case 1 from the open end of the case 1 as shown in
In the present embodiment, four first cap connectors 12 and four second cap connectors 18 are provided. However, the present invention, not limited to this, may have more or less than four first cap connectors 12 and second cap connectors 18 to attach the cap 5 onto the case 1.
On an inner surface of the circumferential wall 14 of the case 1, a guiding groove 19g is formed extending vertically from the open end of the case 1 to the bottom wall 16, as shown in
Next, the platform 3 is described in details in
The platform 3 is slidably arranged in the case 1 to move between a first position P1 in which the platform 3 is positioned at the open end of the case 1 to cover the opening, and a second position P2 in which the platform 3 is positioned at the bottom of the case 1 to receive the cup C, as shown in
The main wall 36 of the platform 3 acts as a cover of the case 1 when the platform 3 is in the first position P1, and acts as the bottom of the case 1 when the platform 3 is in the second position P2. Thus, the main wall 36 of the platform 3 has a diameter substantially equal to an inner diameter of the circumferential wall 14 of the case 1.
On the circumferential sidewall 34 of the platform 3, the damper housing 31, the guided portion 33, and an abutting portion 35 are provided, as shown in
The damper housing 31 is provided on the circumferential sidewall 34 of the platform 3 to house the damper gear 3g. In the present embodiment, two damper housings 31 are provided on the platform 3 opposite to each other in respect to the main wall 36 of the platform 3 as shown in
At a position different from the damper housings 31, the guided portion 33 is provided as shown in
At the bottom end of the circumferential sidewall 34 of the platform 3, the abutting portion 35 protrudes toward the bottom wall 16 to abut against the rotational arm 9, as shown in
Between the platform 3 and the bottom wall 16 of the case 1, the platform urging member 7 is provided, as shown in
Next, the latch unit 2 is described in details in
The latch unit 2 is provided to latch the platform 3 and the bottom wall 16 of the case 1 when the platform 3 is in the second position P2. The latch unit 2 includes a first latching member 37 provided on the main wall 36 of the platform 3 and a second latching member 21 provided at the bottom wall 16 of the case 1.
In the present embodiment, the latch unit 2 is a push-push latch wherein the first latching member 37 is a protrusion protruding toward the bottom wall 16 of the case 1, and the second latching member 21 has an opening facing the platform 3 to receive the first latching member 37. When the platform 3 moves from the first position P1 to the second position P2, the first latching member 37 penetrates the second latching member 21, and latches the second latching member 21; thereby, the first latching member 37 and the second latching member 21 are latched to each other in the second position P2. Then, in the second position P2, when the platform 3 is pushed downward to unlatch the first latching member 37 and the second latching member 21, the platform 3 is moved upward to the first position P1.
Next, the cap 5 is described in details in
The cap 5 is provided to retain the platform 3 in the space is of case 1. The cap 5 has a ring shape with a circumferential side wall 51 extending downwardly to partially cover the upper side of the case 1, and includes a first case connector 52 and a second case connector 58 to connect to the case 1, as shown in
In the present embodiment, four first case connectors 52 are provided to correspond to four first cap connectors 12 as shown in
In the present embodiment, four second case connectors 58 are provided to correspond to four second cap connectors 18 as shown in
Next, the rotational arms 9 are described in details in
The rotational arm 9 is rotatably connected to the case 1 through the hinge portion 13. The rotational arm 9 includes a lower arm member (first arm member) 91 rotatably connected to the case 1, and an upper arm member (second arm member) 93 rotatably connected to the lower arm member 91 as shown in
The lower arm member 91 includes a body portion 914 aligned to the upper arm member 93 and a contacting portion 911 extending from the body portion 914.
The body portion 914 of the lower arm member 91 includes a first through-hole 91s1 at one end to rotatably connect to the second arm member 93 and a second through-hole 91s2 at another end to rotatably connect to the hinge portion 13 of the case 1. The lower arm member 91 is arranged between the pair of plate portions 131 of the hinge portion 13 so that the second through-hole 91s2 and the through-hole 13H are aligned to each other and a lower shaft 913 is inserted therethrough to rotatably connect the lower arm member 91 to the case 1. A lower urging member (first urging portion) 915 is provided at the connection between the lower arm member 91 and the hinge portion 13 to urge the lower arm member 91 radially outwardly.
The contacting portion 911 of the lower arm member 91 extends from the body portion 914. The contacting portion 911 is inclined toward the case 1 relative to the body portion 914 of the lower arm member 91 to extend into the case 1 through the lower slot 15s and abuts against the abutting portion 35 of the platform 3.
As shown in
The upper arm member 93 further includes a retaining member 931 for retaining the cup C inserted into the space 1s of the case 1. In the present embodiment, the retaining member 931 has a semicircular shape protruding toward the case 1, which enters the space 1s of the case 1 through the upper slot 17s of the case 1.
In the present embodiment, two rotational arms 9 are provided; however, the present invention, not limited to this, may have more or less than two rotational arms 9 to retain the cup C inside the cup holder.
Next, an operation of the cup holder of the present embodiment is explained in details in
In the first position P1 as shown in
When the user uses the cup holder of the present embodiment, the cup C is inserted into the space 1s. The platform 3 moves from the first position P1 to the second position P2 by moving downward toward the bottom wall 16 of the case 1 against the urging force of the platform urging member 7. Each gear damper 3g housed inside the damper housing 31 rotates along the corresponding plurality of teeth 111 of guide portion 11. The abutting portion 35 of the platform 3 abuts against the contacting portion 911 of lower arm member 91 to rotate the lower arm member 91 towards the case 1. Each upper arm member rotates along with the lower arm member 91 so that the retaining member 931 enters the upper slot 17s of the case 1.
In the second position P2 as shown in
Conversely, to close the cup holder, in other words, to move the platform 3 from the second position P2 to the first position P1, the user pushes the cup C downwardly to unlatch the first latching member 37 of the platform 3 from the second latching member 21. The platform urging member 7 urges the platform 3 upwardly to move the platform 3 upward. Each gear damper 3g housed inside the damper housing 31 rotates along the corresponding plurality of teeth 111 of guide portion 11. The abutting portion 35 of the platform 3 moves away from the contacting portion 911 of lower arm member 91, and the lower urging member 915 applies the urging force to rotate the lower arm member 91 radially outwardly away from the case 1. Simultaneously, each upper arm member 93 rotates along with the corresponding lower arm member 91 so that the retaining member 931 moves outside of the space 1s of the case 1.
Then as shown in
Accordingly, the platform 3 is structured to move between the first and second positions P1, P2 without abutting the retaining members 931. Therefore, the upper urging member 935 may have an urging force greater than that of the lower urging member 915 so that an urging member with a strong retaining force may be used for the retaining member of the present invention. Thus, the cup is retained with a high retaining force by the retaining members without altering the urging force of the platform urging member.
The above description simply illustrates the principle of the invention. Furthermore, a great number of modifications and alterations are possible for those skilled in the art, and the invention not being limited to the heretofore illustrated and described exact configurations and applications, all corresponding modification examples and equivalents are deemed to be within the scope of the invention defined by the attached claims and their equivalents.
